Last for making overshoes.



No. 639,349. Patented Dec. l9, I899.

G. S. & H. D. BRONSON.

LAST FOR MAKING UVERSHOES.

(Application filed Apr.,14. 1899.)

(No Model.)

INVENTORS AZ My WITNESSES UNITED STATES? ATENT trio's.

GEORGE S. BRONSON AND HOMER D. BRONSON, OF BEACON FALLS,

CONNECTICUT.

LAST FOR MAKING OVERSHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,349, dated December19, 1899.

Serial No. 712,975. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concerm.

Be it known that we, GEORGE S. BRONSON and HOMER D. BRONSON, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Beacon Falls, county of New Haven, Stateof Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Last for MakingOvershoes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the manufacture of overshoes, and has for itsobject to provide a convenient, durable, and inexpensive last over whichto form the overshoes and upon which to trim them.

It is of course well understood that in the manufacture of overshoesthey are formed upon lasts which give shape to the shoes, and the upperedge of each shoe is trimmed with a cutter while it is on thelast. Thematerial heretofore in general use for making lasts was wood. Variousfine close-grained woods have been used; but ordinarily maple has beenselected. Although enormous quantities of wooden lasts have been used inthe manufacture of overshoes, wood has never been satisfactory as amaterial for lasts owing to the fact that it is impossible to preventwooden lasts from shrinking, swelling, and splitting when subjected tochanges in temperature as, for example, to the intense heat required forvulcanization, to which process the overshoes are subjected while uponthe lasts. In practice the change in the size of wooden lasts owing tothis property of the wood not infrequently amounts to the full size inwidth. It is furthermore not infrequent for the lasts to warp and tosplit to such a degree as to render them useless. It results, therefore,that manufactureys of overshoes are compelled to watch wooden lastsclosely to see that they are holding their sizes and to throw away largenumber of lasts which become useless owing to the inherent properties ofall kinds of wood.

Some of the serious objections to the use of wooden lasts are overcomeby the use of metal lasts. No special objection is found to the weightof the lasts and none whatever to their durability. They are, however,so expensive as to add materially to the cost of manufacturingovershoes. The great durability of the metal lasts does not in practicecompensate for their greatly-increased cost, owing to the fact that itis necessary to make frequent changes in the style of lasts, mostchanges in style rendering the lasts previously in use wholly worthless.It has long been soughtby manufacturers of overshoes to find somematerial from which to make lasts, in connection with a mode of makingthe lasts, that would greatly reduce this important item of the cost ofproduction. The essential requirements for a satisfactory last are thatthe last will retain its shape under all cir cumstances, even whenexposed to the intense heat of a vulcanizing-oven, and shall be soinexpensive to produce as to quickly pay for itself in use, so thatwhenever the style changes new sets of lasts may be quickly provided andat a relatively small cost.

In order to accomplish the desired result, we have devised a last madeentirely of glass, which we will now describe, referring by suitablereference characters to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, and in which- Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal sectionsof our novel last, illustrating slightly-dilferent modes of holding thelast in place in use; and Figs. 3 and 4 are plan views correspondingtherewith.

A denotes the body of our novel last, which may be made hollow or not,as preferred, and is provided with suitable means for holding the lastin place in'use-for example, with one or more hubs a, having holes 1 toreceive the pin or pins (not shown) by which the last is held in placein use. When the last is provided with but one hub, as in Figs. 1 and 3,

the opening 1 is made angular in cross-section to receive a pin ofcorresponding shape, so as to hold the last firmly in place when seatedthereon. When the last is provided with two hubs, as in Figs. 2 and 4,the shape of the holes in the pins is a matter of no consequence, as aplurality of pins and hubs of any shape will hold the last in place andpre vent it from turning.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- '1. A last for makingovershoes formed from glass in a single piece and provided with hole 1substantially as shown, for the purpose means for retaining it in placein use. specified.

2. Alastformaking overshoes formed from In testimony whereof We affixour signaglass and provided with means as a hub protures in presence oftwo Witnesses. 5 gigggivglglgean angular hole for holdlng 1t 111 GEORGEs BRO-NSON. 3. A hollow glass last for making overshoes HOMER BRONSONprovided With a hub having an opening to lVitnesses: receive a pin. M.H. TITLEY,

1o 4. The glass last A having a hub a with a D. O. BRONSON.

